One of the things I’ve committed to doing more often is visiting those classic, long lived beers that have been around for quite some time and likely have had a decent influence on shaping of the beer industry we know today. In my Classic Series of reviews I’ll be looking at beers that have existed…
Russian River Pliny the Elder: This was another bucket list beer of mine that I was super excited to try, I have heard about it a lot and couldn’t wait to pop it open. Brewed in Santa Rosa, CA to a strength of 8% with 100 IBUs this beer is meant to be drank as fresh…
Maine Beer Company Dinner Double IPA: Brewed in Freeport, Maine this top 10 ranked Double IPA (see ratebeer) is brewed to a strength of 8.2% abv with an undisclosed level of IBUs. This particular beer is pretty difficult to obtain outside of North Eastern USA and due to its high rating heightened demand, tracking a…
Wellington Brewery Imperial Russian Stout: Brewed in Guelph, Ontario at a strength of 8% abv, Wellington claims to be Canada’s oldest operating Independent microbrewery (they opened in 1985), however I believe Spinnakers actually takes that honour as they opened in 1984. Still, all fact disputes aside, this is a beer I’ve heard about from other’s back…
Sawdust City Long Dark Voyage To Uranus Imperial Stout: Canned in February 2015, this almost one year old beer has one of the best names in the business. It’s brewed to a strength of 10.2% abv with 60 IBU’s worth of Magnum and Centennial hops and a malt bill showcasing about 10 different malts altogether. The…
Sixpoint Brewery Resin Imperial IPA: Brewed in Brooklyn, New York this beer comes in at a strength of 9.1% abv and a whopping 103 IBUs worth of resinous hops. Sixpoint’s beers come in these tall, skinny 12 oz cans (as pictured above) which makes them very convenient and easy to store in a fridge or cooler.…
Holy Mountain The Third Nail Belgian Pale Ale: Brewed in Seattle, WA this beer is aged in white wine barrels and was made in collaboration to celebrate the third anniversary of a local bar called The Pine Box. This release was apparently limited to 69 cases and I’ve since learned that it was their first…
Long Trail Brewing Space Juice Double IPA: Brewed in Vermont, this intergalactic inspired beer is made to an Imperial strength of 8.7% abv with 82 IBUs with of Galaxy, Mosiac, Citra, Ella and Columbus Hops. If you are looking for a beer to pair with the new Star Wars movie, this is a great choice! Aroma and Appearance:…
Logsdon Seizoen Bretta Organic Farmhouse Ale: Day 7 of my Beer Advent Calendar exchange with my father, this is a farmhouse ale brewed to a strength of 8% abv and uses a strain of Brettanomyces yeast to give it some extra funk. Funny enough, I have a 2013 bottle in my cellar that I totally forgot…
Hair of the Dog Doggie Claws 2014: Brewed in Portland, Oregon by a brewery that introduced me to the wonderful world of Barleywine and Old Ales, this is a 2014 bottle of their Christmas release that is brewed to a strength of 11% abv. It was day 6 of my advent calendar exchange with my father,…
Dieu Du Ciel Péché Mortel Barrel Aged 2013: This is a barrel aged variant of the Coffee Imperial Stout Péché Mortel, which is brewed to a strength of 9.5% abv and spends about 12 months in Bourbon Barrels before being bottled. It’s interesting to barrel age a coffee stout as coffee flavours in beer mellow significantly over…
Brewmaster Jack Hoppines Is A Warm Pun Double IPA: Brewed in Northhampton Massachusetts, this beer comes in at a strength of 8.2% abv and contains 100 IBUs worth of Moteuka and Galaxy hops. I admit, I’ve never ever heard of Moteuka hops before, but some quick googling revealed that it’s a cross breed of Saaz and…
Lord Hobo Brewing Boom Sauce Double IPA: Brewed in Woburn, Massachusetts this double IPA is a blend of three of their hop forward ales: Blend of Ball and Biscuit, Steal This Can and Consolation Prize. It comes in a 500mL can, simply labelled Boom Sauce, and it makes for a great shelf impression and presence amongst a…
Fiddlehead Brewing Mastermind Double IPA: Brewed in Shelburne, VT this Double IPA comes in at a strength of 8.1% abv with an undisclosed IBU. A unique thing about this particular beer is that the brewery has committed to donating 25% of all sales of Mastermind towards the Vermont Children’s Hospital’s Extra Life Event which supports clinical…
Lagunitas Born Yesterday Fresh Hop Pale Ale: Brewed in Petaluma, CA to a strength of 6.5% abv, this beer uses fresh Simcoe and Citra hops from Yakima, WA that are rushed to the brewery for brew day. It is a late release for the fresh hop season, bottled at the end of October and released shortly…
Gilgamesh Brewing Fresh Prince Fresh Hop IPA: Brewed in Salem, Oregon at a strength of 6.3% abv and 88 IBUs of hop love, Fresh Prince showcases a whole lot of fresh Centennial hops. This beer is rumored to make you involuntary start doing the Carlton dance at random times in random places, or at least in…
Two Beers Brewing Fresh Hop IPA: Brewed in Seattle, WA at a strength of 6.2% abv, this fresh hop variant features 70+ IBUs of 5 different hop varieties, specifically using fresh Centennial hops from Yakima Valley that were harvested in early August and rushed straight to the brewery to be used immediately. Aroma and Appearance: It pours a…
Deschutes Chasin’ Freshies: Brewed in Bend, OR at a strength of 7.4% with 65 IBUs, the 2015 release features fresh Lemondrop hops and a Pilsner malt base. The recipe changes year over year and this year’s is very, very different than the 2014 version which had fresh Mosaic hops and more traditional ale malts. Aroma and Appearance: It pours…
Hale’s Ales Fresh Hop ISA: This fresh hop beer is brewed in Seattle, WA to a strength of 4.7% abv with fresh Cascade hops from Washington’s Yakima Valley – as well as some Bravo and Sorachi ace hops. I found this randomly in Vancouver BC, which is odd because I never see Hale’s Ales here, but…
Fort George Fresh Wet IPA: This beer was brewed in Astoria, Oregon to a strength of 6.4% abv using Yakima Valley, WA fresh Mosaic hops from Loftus Ranches. Honestly, this wasn’t easy to track down as the limited supply that was sent to Washington State was quickly bought up by any fresh hop fan, so I was…
Bridgeport Brewing Hop Harvest Fresh Hop IPA: Brewed in Portland, Oregon with fresh hops harvested from farm to kettle within merely an hour, this beer is made to a strength of 7% abv with 60 IBUs worth of fresh crystal hops from nearby Sodbuster Farms in the Willamette Valley region. Admittedly, this was a random and…
Fremont Brewing Cowiche Canyon Fresh Hop Ale With Mosaic & Equinox: Brewed in Seattle, WA at a strength of 6% abv, this fresh hop variant features 70 IBUs worth of fresh Mosaic and Equinox hops. This is a new variety of their regular fresh hop release, something I wasn’t expecting but was happy to see. Their organic…
Base Camp Brewing S’More Stout: As the summer camping season winds down, I can’t help but write about the best camping beer I’ve ever known which is brewed in Portland, Oregon by Base Camp Brewing. This beer is brewed to a strength of 7.7% abv and if ordered at the brewery they serve it with a…
Crooked Stave Surette Provision Saison: Labelled batch 15 and born in 2014, this sour saison is brewed to a strength of 6.2% abv. Crooked Stave in Denver, CO is one of those breweries I’d heard of, but never had a chance to try their beer (other than in a collaboration format) until it recently appeared all…
Avery & Russian River Collaboration Not Litigation Ale: Brewed to a strength of 8.9% abv, this collaboration ale personifies what I love about the majority of craft brewing culture, their ability to collaborate, help each other out and creatively solve issues. You see the story behind this ale is that both Avery and Russian River Brewery…
Against The Grain Brewery Citra Ass Down DIPA: Known for their puns, artwork and one really nasty looking label, Against The Grain brewed this beer to a strength of 8.2% abv with 68 IBUs of hops featuring mostly Citra hops with some others on the side. The brewers suggest drinking this one straight from the can…
Almanac Farmers Reserve Blackberry Ale: This is a sour blonde ale that is infused with blackberries, aged in wine barrels and brewed to a strength of 7% abv. They use a blend of American and Belgian wild yeasts and a sourdough starter to ferment the beer in multiple barrels, eventually blending it together before bottling it.…
Stone Brewing RuinTen Triple IPA: Stone is known for pushing the envelope to the limit when it comes to brewing, so it’s no surprise to see that this beast dubbed an “audacious gem of hoppy splendor” is brewed to a strength of 10.8% abv with 110 IBU’s worth of hops. Bottled on June 13th, 2015,…
Anderson Valley The Kimmie, The Yink and The Holy Gose Ale: Also known as Anderson Valley Gose, this sessionable beer is brewed to a strength of 4.2% abv with a good portion of malted wheat, added salt, coriander and it went through a kettle souring process prior to its fermentation. Aroma and Appearance: It pours a clear gold…
Lagunitas Brown Shugga’: This winter seasonal beer from Petaluma, CA is brewed to a strength of 9.9% abv with 51.1 IBUs. Brown Shugga was apparently derived out of a failed batch of their Old Gnarleywine that they tried to revive by adding brown cane sugar somewhere in the process (I’m assuming the fermentation/aging part of the…
Firestone Walker Pivo Hoppy Pilsner: Before I get into describing this beer, let me tell you that it’s abundantly rare for me to buy a Pilsner beer these days. It’s not that I don’t like them, I just find that they are usually boring compared to the bigger beers I like, so it is a style…
pFriem Family Brewers Down Under IPA: Brewed in Hood River, OR this IPA comes in at a strength of 7.2% abv and 65 IBUs. pFriem is just starting to send more bottled product up to BC, but it can also be found in Washington State and they make some pretty stellar soured beers and saisons that I…
Hill Farmstead Brewery Anna Vermont Honey Ale: Brewed in Greensboro, VT at a strength of 6.5% abv this beer contains 20% raw wildflower honey from Vermont and uses their house saison yeast. Hill Farmstead is one of those breweries that you hear about, but rarely see in my neck of the woods. Unless you go to…
Fiddlehead Brewing Second Fiddle IPA: Brewed in Shelburne, VT this Double IPA comes in at a strength of 8.2% abv with 80 IBUs in an easily crushable tallboy can sold in 4 packs. Aroma and Appearance: It pours a nice clear copper colour with 3 fingers of foam and an average level of carbonation. The aroma is…
Unibroue La Résolution: Brewed in Quebec, this Begian style dark spiced ale was released around the Christmas season, but I decided to wait in it as early reviews indicated that it was quite potent in the spice department. Like all beers from Unibroue, it is re-fermented in the bottle for natural carbonation (aka “ale on lees” on the label…
Lawson’s Finest Liquids Sip of Sunshine Double IPA: Brewed in Warren, VT this Double IPA comes in at a strength of 8% abv with an undisclosed IBU level. Like other famous Vermont IPA’s, it’s in a tall boy can with a date stamp on the bottom (mine was 5 weeks fresh) and features some pretty cool…
Deschutes The Abyss (2014) : Brewed in Bend, OR at a strength of 11.1% abv with 86 IBUs, this beer is made with black strap molasses, licorice, cherry bark and vanilla while being blended with carefully aged Abyss from oak bourbon barrels (6%), new Oregon oak barrels (11%) and pinot noir wine barrels (11%). Needless to say, this…
Sierra Nevada Hop Hunter IPA: Brewed in Chico, CA, this beer was the subject of a short but relatively public dispute over the black IPA lettering used on the bottle which was just, barely, sorta similar to the Lagunitas IPA font they use on their white labeled IPA bottle. It is brewed to a strength of 6.2% abv…
Huss Brewing That’ll Do IPA: Hailing from Tempe, AZ this is an IPA in an unassuming can that is brewed to a strength of 7.1% abv with 91 IBUs of Simcoe, Columbus and Zythos Hops according to the brewer’s website. I didn’t go there recently, however Mike’s Craft Beer was happy to share one with me (thanks Mike)…
Dieu Du Ciel & The Alchemist Moralité IPA: Is an American IPA style beer collaboration with two great brewers, one known for Heady Topper which is one the most highly regarded IPA’s in North America and the other known for a great line up beers. I drank this within about 1 month of the bottling date,…
Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barleywine 2015: Brewed in Chico, CA, this is a Barleywine that they have been brewing since 1983, which was pretty brave for a microbrewery back in the day. One of the more readily available Barleywines, Bigfoot is brewed to a strength of 9.6% abv with 90 IBUs of Cascade, Centennial and Chinook hops in order…
Chimay Brewery: Located in Chimay, Belgium this is a Trappist brewery operating out of Scourmont Abbey who famously brews the three beers pictured above for worldwide distribution. They use water from wells inside the monastery and put all profits towards the maintenance of the monastery itself or towards community charitable social services provided by the monks. They also…
Brouwerij de Molen Rasputin: Bottled in March 2012 in the Netherlands, this Imperial Stout is brewed to a strength of 10.4% abv with 46 IBUs in a bottle that boasts the words “Enjoy within 25 years”. This is a beer is an interesting candidate for very long term aging should you have the patience and remaining lifespan…
Lagunitas The Hairy Eyeball Ale: This Strong Ale is a seasonal release brewed in Petaluma, California to a strength of 9.1% abv with 56.66 IBU’s and is what I would consider a good winter warmer ale. Aroma and Appearance: Pours a ruby red colour with one finger of foam and lots of little bubbles in the glass.…
Dieu Du Ciel Barrel Aged Equinoxe Du Printemps Scotch Ale: This is a special Scotch Ale brewed in Quebec to a strength of 9.1% abv which is both infused with maple syrup and aged in bourbon barrels for 12 months. It is brewed once a year in January to be released on the first day of…
Ninkasi Devil Went Down to Oregon Imperial Dark Rye Beer: Brewed in Eugene, Oregon in collaboration with Devil’s Backbone Brewing in Virginia, this beer was brewed to a strength of 7.2% abv with 72 IBUs worth of Chinook, Simcoe, Mt Hood, Tettnang and Willamette hops. It was fermented with an Altbier yeast and matured cooler than…
Sierra Nevada 2015 Beer Camp Hoppy Lager: Brewed in Chico, CA, this beer is a re-imagined version of the 2014 Beer Camp collaboration with Ballast Point. It was released as a spring seasonal, but this time with 55 IBUs (with completely different hops) with only 7% abv versus last year’s which was a bit stronger and had a…
Muskoka Brewery Double Chocolate Cranberry Stout: Brewed in Bracebridge, Ontario at a strength of 8% abv this cellar version of their double chocolate stout stayed an extra year in brewery cellars before being released in fancy, cool looking box. Aroma and Appearance: Pours a dark brown colour with no bubbles or foam to be seen. Its aroma is full…
Delirium Nocturnum: I pulled this beer out of the fridge on #PinkShirtDay since it features a pink elephant so prominently – as if I need a reason to drink this beer! It is brewed to a strength of 8.5% abv in a cool looking bottle with a best before date of 2018. This was a part of…
Craft Beer Review – Half Pints Brewing Burleywine Barleywine – Brewed in Winnipeg, Manitoba this Barleywine comes in at a strength of 10.5% abv and 75 IBUs. I was very pleased to get a chance to try this beer as some barleywines are very hard to come by since they are often brewed in smaller batches. Aroma…
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